Symantec made great improvements in the previous iteration of its Norton 360 suite, addressing many of the long-running concerns with the software, with faster scans and a reduced impact on system performance. Version 3.0 brings a few new additions to the table but, as before, the focus is more on improving and refining the software than introducing any revolutionary new features.
Symantec makes a point of highlighting a ‘one-minute-fast’ installation time and we were surprised to find this fairly accurate. Setting up, updating and performing initial configuration is quick and straightforward, though updating from a previous version of Norton 360 takes longer.
Users of version 2.0 will be familiar with the interface, which has been tidied up but retains the same four-category display, splitting up the list of tools. Norton’s focus on performance is apparent, as virus definitions are downloaded at between five and 15-minute intervals and scans use Norton Internet Security’s more refined core engine.
The Insight tool helps to speed up the application even further, as common files that are deemed ‘safe’ and correspond with the correct signatures in its database will be skipped, which reduces both scan times and the impact of live monitoring. Running this tool can take a while, but after doing so we saw an already impressive one-minute scan time reduced to just 17 seconds. Compare this with the two minutes it took on the same test system with version 2.0 and the improvements are clear. Full scans predictably take longer; around 40 minutes, but this is still an improvement.
Another part of the suite that has been refined is the firewall, which now allows you to fine-tune its settings in detail. While this extra control may appear daunting to new users, all the same control as before is here, along with protection against the latest threats.
Norton 360 includes some other tools besides the usual combination of firewall and anti-virus software, such as web protection to guard against phishing attacks. This tool integrates with Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox to rate websites based on their safety level. This tool can also store details such as logins and passwords, fill in forms automatically and even store your credit card details, if you want to keep them on your computer. You get 2GB of online storage for backups, and you can schedule multiple backups for various times of the day. It’s a shame no encryption or compression options are included.
A start-up manager has been added to the Tune Up tools, which include disk and Registry optimisation, clean-up and diagnostic reports. The new tool summarises the performance impact of software that runs with your system and allows you to disable or delay various programs to speed up Windows start-up times.
A parental guard, wireless protection and anti-spam tools round off the list of features in Norton 360 but, thankfully, without compromising the usability of the software.
Norton 360 3.0 is a solid, easy-to-use security suite. The brand was once associated with being bloated and complicated, but it now offers great performance and a wide range of useful tools. Admittedly, Symantec hasn’t made any particularly radical changes in this version, so upgrading isn’t essential if you already have Norton 360 2.0. However, this update raises the bar even higher for other security software vendors.
All Antivirus & Firewalls Tags: Security-software, Symantec
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